Bonux, a Taiwan company founded in July 2009, announced two Android 2.2 set-top boxes based on ZiiLABS processors: The Bonux HZ20A and HZ20B. If you can remember Bonux also showcased a 50 USD Android STB earlier on.
Here are the specs of the two media players:
| HZ20A | HZ20B | |
| OS | Android 2.2 | |
| CPU | Ziilabs ZMS-08 ARM Cortex A8 @ 800 MHz |
Ziilabs ZMS-05 ARM9 @ 400 MHz |
| RAM | 512 MB DDR2 | 256 MB DDR2 |
| NAND Flash | 512MB | 256MB |
| Wifi | 802.11 b/g/n (Via optional external USB Dongle) | |
| Adobe Flash | Flash 10.1 | FlashLite |
| Video Codecs /Formats | MPEG-1/MPEG-2/MPG-4(MP4 & MOV)/DivX(4/5)/Motion JPEG/H.264/WMV9/VC1/Real Video (RMVB – VGA Resolution) | |
| Audio Codecs | MP3/WAV/WMA/AC3/AAC/OOG | |
| Max Resolution/Bitrate | 1080p 40 Mbps | |
| Subtitles | SRT/SMI/SUB/SSA | |
| File Systems | FAT32 / NTFS(Read-Only) | |
They are not using the default Android user interface, but their own customize UI, which can be a good thing on a TV. Their user interface has the usual Videos, Music, Pictures and Settings, plus the Browser, Youtube and Applications menu. HZ20A will costs 100 USD and HZ20B 80 USD and will be available next month. The video performance seems very good as you can see in the video below. However, I’m very surprised they do not support NTFS R/W, as their processors should be powerful enough to support NTFS-3G or/and commercial NTFS implementations.
If you want to develop a similar set-top box, you can use Ziilabs development board for ZMS-05 or ZMS-08 with their optimized Android OS. Alternatively you could also get their Digital Media Hub reference design called Zii Sivo, where they provide all you need to start development namely:
- Schematics
- Gerbers
- Design Files
- Bill of Materials
- Mechanical drawings
- 3D CAD model
- Assembled PCBs
- Board Support Package
- Operating System, middleware & CODECs
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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hi how can i bay the HZ20A ?
I’m not sure it is available retail but you may try to contact Bonux directly.
Their website is http://www.bonux.com.tw/, but it is currently down.